the same happens using the prebuild kernel from http://dev.gentoo.org/~redhatter/mips/sgi/ip28/kernel-images/
i think the problem is related to the gfx solid impact: removing it in (B) cause the system to complete the boot process, keeping the gfx inside EISA bus in (B) cause the system not to complete the boot process: it seems stalled waiting xever for something from the hardware.

That is unusual. You mention graphics in the EISA bus -- Last I checked, Solid Impact boards plugged into the GIO64 bus ports, not EISA.

That kernel I built definately does have VT and IMPACT support inbuilt. That said, I'll put up another image in a moment. What does your arc.cf look like?_________________Stuart Longland (a.k.a Redhatter, VK4MSL)
I haven't lost my mind - it's backed up on a tape somewhere...

That should be fine. So the problem is it loops when using IMPACT console, but not when using serial?_________________Stuart Longland (a.k.a Redhatter, VK4MSL)
I haven't lost my mind - it's backed up on a tape somewhere...

That should be fine. So the problem is it loops when using IMPACT console, but not when using serial?

the problem is the that with the gfx-framebuffer enabled in the kernel the machine loops 4 ever.
It loops if the console is UART, it loops if the console is gfx. It always loops for ever causing me to reset and to boot a kernel without the framebuffer support.

I have noted that your indigo2 is a green one, i'm speaking about the purple one, i think it is different in the solid impact, because your kernel loops too, while you say you have booted it with success.

May be we are speaking about 2 different machines: indigo2 green and indigo 2 purple, both are R10K, or i don't know how to explain the difference ...

I can only think that there's something funny with your framebuffer board that Linux does not like.

What do you mean by "monitor has a flashing"? I've seen some monitors that go into standby mode (flashing their POWER LED) when they detect no signal, or can't sync. Does the monitor have any On-Screen Display menu, and if so, can it tell you the sync-rate of the video signal?_________________Stuart Longland (a.k.a Redhatter, VK4MSL)
I haven't lost my mind - it's backed up on a tape somewhere...

I can only think that there's something funny with your framebuffer board that Linux does not like.

What do you mean by "monitor has a flashing"? I've seen some monitors that go into standby mode (flashing their POWER LED) when they detect no signal, or can't sync. Does the monitor have any On-Screen Display menu, and if so, can it tell you the sync-rate of the video signal?

it is what happens: i poweron, i see the prom menu, i enter the command menu, i boot gentoo, suddenly the monitor detects no signal, and the system is halted.

The nosync could be a problem of the monitor, but the boot is halted: i mean no serial console, no ssh console, no sound from the harddisk, nothing: the boot is really halted in a loop.

Here, i have 3 solidimpact boards, they are working with IRIX, they are not with gentoo.

Personally i think your SolidImpact board is different from mine, we can explain the monitor flashing (it should be a problem in video sync, Irix works, gentoo doesn't), but if i use your kernel, there is no explanation about what i see on my system: a boot completly halted: i really think is a driver problem.

when i plugged a 3com eisa board on an other indigo2 i experienced slots are not the same: irix had problems if i put this 3com board in the "wrong slot number": EISAslot1 is not the same as EISAslot2, ecc. It seems silly, but slots are numbered and i have experienced this stupid problem. So, which slot have you plugged with the gfx video board ? (yes, i know, i have experienced an EISA slot number, the gfx is GIO64, but ... just to know if this is the silly problem)

Anybody else has experienced this problem, here ?
i'd like to hear from other gentoo-forum-people, expecially from who owns a purple indigo2 impact.

my impact is well running, now i'd like to plug an IDE-HD controller in the EISA slot

has anybody expirienced this idea ?

could you suggest me a good IDE-hard-disk-controller-board to plug in the impact-EISA-slot ?

i mean a board supported by the linux IDE/ATA drivers

thank you

EISA support on IP28 is practically untested. With a few patches (the URLs to which I have misplaced) you can get it to compile. My understanding is that things like DMA don't work properly (sound cards are non-functional for instance) and thus you'd have pathetically slow disk I/O throughput._________________Stuart Longland (a.k.a Redhatter, VK4MSL)
I haven't lost my mind - it's backed up on a tape somewhere...

my impact is well running, now i'd like to plug an IDE-HD controller in the EISA slot

has anybody expirienced this idea ?

could you suggest me a good IDE-hard-disk-controller-board to plug in the impact-EISA-slot ?

i mean a board supported by the linux IDE/ATA drivers

thank you

EISA support on IP28 is practically untested. With a few patches (the URLs to which I have misplaced) you can get it to compile. My understanding is that things like DMA don't work properly (sound cards are non-functional for instance) and thus you'd have pathetically slow disk I/O throughput.

octane2 (on-board) sound card is working
indigo2 (on-board) sound card is NOT working

i think i will build (or buy, i see it on ebay-shop @ $100+shipping) an adaptor SCSI<-->ATA
[may it be a good electronic project for my university degree ? scsi are too expensive !!!]

Yep... I'm aware of the problems regarding HAL2 on IP28. Incidentally, it's the same result I face on the O2... if they don't crash the machine, they cause severe distortion when playing a waveform._________________Stuart Longland (a.k.a Redhatter, VK4MSL)
I haven't lost my mind - it's backed up on a tape somewhere...

This is a great solution to the cost of SCSI drives. Take your large format (and much less expensive) IDE drives and turn them into a scsi drive with this small adapter. Chain drives together for a full SCSI setup. A great solution for storage of files. The AEC-7720U comes with all the jumpers for setting it up with the SCSI ID that you want. I will also send via email a link to the manual and software for updating firmware, etc. to the winning bidder. Good luck bidding!

OverView

The AEC-7720U Ultra SCSI-IDE bridge is dedicated to general purpose bridge of SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) to IDE (Integrated Device Electronics )interface. With ACARD micro-controller core built-in, it provides more flexibility and stability for highly exploring application. The AEC-7720U supports IDE device which can be easily attached to SCSI bus.

Yep... I'm aware of the problems regarding HAL2 on IP28. Incidentally, it's the same result I face on the O2... if they don't crash the machine, they cause severe distortion when playing a waveform.

yes, HAL2-IP28 is terrible ! no sound from it, no love, only noise.

so personally i think i'd better plan to add an I2C-mp3-audio-decodert-chip (<$40) on the IP28-LPT and to buld I2C kernel support
Then i will cat song.mp3 to "/dev/i2c" and the chip will decode stream into audio

gosh, so should have realized a 300Gb-ip28-200Watt-mega-iPOD ?
yes, an alternative use of an obsolete machine: LOL !!!

Little wonder really... CGA cards rely mostly on BIOS routines, or by hooking a specific region of memory, which is directly written to by the OS/applications.

This is why you can't have multiple CGA cards in a machine for instance ... they both try to hook the same BIOS routines, and the same regions of memory.

Now the BIOS is non-existant on a SGI workstation. They have a PROM which pay sweet FA attention to the EISA bus -- that's the operating system's worry -- the PROM is only concerned with the onboard hardware. The memory region used by the CGA adaptor will probably clash with something too -- they were not designed to talk to SGI computers, or vice versa.

Likewise with the serial board -- they were designed with IBM-compatible hardware in mind, which SGI computers are anything but._________________Stuart Longland (a.k.a Redhatter, VK4MSL)
I haven't lost my mind - it's backed up on a tape somewhere...

ok, so i'd better build my own CGA adaptor using an CCPLD soldered to an ISA prototype board: in this case this board will be seen by kernel as a normal "memory mapped device" in where the kernel linux has only to move data. What the kernel moves to it will be putted to the video ram so ... displayed on the CRT at last. Easy.

pro:
1) no bion requited
2) handling the graphic board means handling an easy memory mapped device
3) you can allocate the smartest address to the device, so the SGI mon should be happy
4) no DMA, so no futile complicated add on: we are talking about a slow text only console
5) no interrupt design